Plated column design for strip still
Considering to switch from a pot still to a continuous column still for stripping, our team worked to determine the size, number of plates, heat usage and cost of building a still to meet design criteria
Aspen Plus was used to determine the characteristics of a column still and the efficacy of replacing a pot still with the continuous column.
Both shortcut methods and rigorous simulations were used to estimate the concentration of various congeners and flavor compounds in the heads and tails.
Development of antifouling procedure for batch reverse osmosis system
Given a batch reverse osmosis system for desalinating water, Alleghanian Group was tasked with developing a cost effective antifouling procedure to reduce operating costs.
After intensive research into seawater chemistry, our team found the main precipitates forming on the reverse osmosis membrane, and developed cleaning procedures to remove scaling and sulfate deposits using ion exchange gels, loading of the carbonate system, and dilution.
Determination of water characteristics to determine influence on fermentation
Wanting to use minimize treatment of water to create a unique beer, water characteristics were determined, including pH, major and minor ion concentrations and water electric potential.
After collecting samples, our team sent them to our chemical testing partner, where the major and minor ion concentrations were determined. pH and potential were measured in house.
After measuring parameters, yeast activity was measured in all of the samples deemed fit for use in beverages.
Integrating mass flow readings into proof based cuts
Used experimental data on molar volumes of ethanol and water in ethanol-water mixtures in order to create a lookup table for a PLC in the distillery system to determine proof from density of the solution from the mass and volume flow sensor.
In order to increase the accuracy of the lookup table, the mathematical model was adjusted to match density and proof data collected by the system.
Major hurdles includes the low temperatures and pressures of the solution, and limited data on an ABV basis. These were overcome using thermodynamic properties.